Russia sentences former U.S. consulate worker to nearly five years in prison for ‘collaboration with foreign state’

A Russian court has sentenced a former employee of the U.S. consulate in Vladivostok to four years and 10 months in prison on charges of “secret collaboration with a foreign state,” the court’s press service announced on Friday.

State investigators allege that Robert Shonov, a Russian citizen, gathered information on the course of the war in Ukraine and mobilization efforts in Russia’s regions, as well as data on “problematic issues and their effects on the population’s protest activity ahead of the presidential election.” The Russian authorities claim that Shonov acted on the orders of Jeffrey Sillin and David Bernstein, two officials from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

In a video published by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) after his arrest, Shonov appears to state that U.S. Embassy staff tasked him with gathering “negative” information and searching for “individuals loyal to the U.S.”